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“GREEN” SCHOOLS
AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A PROFOUND
DIFFERENCE IN OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE
By Bill Hartwell
All across the country, schools are going green to save money, protect the environment, and help kids learn. Teachers, parents, school boards, school administrators and community leaders alike are catching on to the overwhelming benefits green schools provide, most notably creating a healthy and vibrant environment in which children excel. These same people are also realizing that, given the significant cost savings, green schools are the most fiscally responsible choice for our communities.
What are “green” schools? Green school buildings, also known as high-performance schools, are healthy and productive, cost efficient, educationally effective, sustainable, and community centered. Design and construction standards for such buildings are based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. LEED, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance buildings.
In contrast, conventional school buildings are typically designed only to meet minimum local building codes for the lowest initial cost, while still maintaining durability. The unfortunate result is an inefficient, energy intensive design with high operating costs. Also, local building codes are often incomplete, as they may not include air quality standards for schools. The end result is, many of our children spend their childhoods in buildings which negatively impact their health.
Since green schools are designed specifically to provide comfortable and healthy environments, one of the main benefits is that kids actually perform better in the classroom. Student test scores in high-performance schools are measurably higher than those in conventional schools. This improvement is achieved mostly by providing generous amounts of natural daylight in the classroom, keeping students and teachers more alert. A synthesis of 53 studies found that increased day lighting in class fosters higher student achievement.
Additionally, LEED schools pay special attention to reducing glare, improving acoustics, and maintaining comfortable temperatures in the classroom. It is hard for students to learn in a classroom where they can’t see the board or hear the teacher well. Similarly, students cannot concentrate as well in a room that is too hot or too cold.
A second benefit is that average daily attendance is higher in a green school because a healthier environment means fewer sick days. It is important to remember that children are not small adults; they breathe more air relative to body size than adults, and their brains and other organs are developing rapidly. In short, children are disproportionately affected by pollutants and poor indoor air quality.
High-performance schools provide superior Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), which leads to healthier students and teachers. Sick days and instances of asthma are measurably lower. Effective control of mold, bacteria, and dust; elimination of harmful chemicals like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in paints, glues, carpet, and insulation; and adequate ventilation to reduce the spread of infectious disease are a priority. As a result, both children and teachers are healthier and have fewer absences.
Reduced absenteeism for students and teachers also provide financial benefits. For one, fewer funds are needed for substitute teachers. Also, when children are healthier and in school more, parents don’t have to miss work as often and they spend less money taking their children to the doctor. And in states like Texas, where a school’s operating budget is determined in part by the number of days students are in attendance, fewer sick days can directly benefit the school’s bottom line.
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